Jayson Tatum

Tatum shared a screenshot of a text he sent to Kobe Bryant in a celebratory Instagram post early Monday morning: "I got you today."

That was my favorite player. That was my inspiration. "That was my idol.

Not many young duos have accomplished what they did with their win in Game 7. Read more on Boston.com.

“Every year we’ve been in this situation, like I said, and we had to sit there and look ourselves in the mirror, and it had to hurt, and it did. “For us, it was just we wanted to come out here and make sure that that didn’t happen again, and we did it, like I said. “I think that’s what we all have in common, that we’ve all been through those tough times and we remember how that felt. The Celtics’ homegrown trio of Tatum, Brown, and Smart made history in Game 7 as well. Brown scored 23.6 points per game in the regular season and 22.9 per game so far in the playoffs. Prior to Sunday though, neither had broken through in the conference finals.

Tatum finished with 26 points (9-21 FG, 4-7 3Pt, 4-5 FT), 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and one steal in 46 minutes during Sunday's 100-96 victory ...

Celtics swingman Jayson Tatum was named the inaugural Larry Bird award winner as the MVP of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

This is the biggest game of my career thus far, and I wanted to wear that armband to honor him and kind of share that moment in a way." He's one hell of a player, that's for damn sure." That's an incredible DNA that he has inside of him." While Tatum earned the Bird award, it was Butler's performance that might last even longer in the annals of the game. He's a superstar, and he deserved that. He's a world-class competitor and he knows how to win basketball games. "Jayson, he's the head of the snake. Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors is Thursday in San Francisco. The fact that he did it while wearing an armband in honor of Bryant made it that much more special for the young star. "Obviously that was my idol," Tatum said. Regardless of how long I've been in the league, I'm not too far removed from when I was in high school and when I was dreaming about moments like this. You look at the numbers, 26-point night and that's standard for him. Tatum came into Game 7 averaging 24.8 points, 8 rebounds and 5.5 assists and repeatedly made big plays when the Celtics needed them.

For the inaugural presentation of the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP award, it was only right to be given to a Celtic Legend in the making.

Look for bigger and better things, and obviously he's going to do the same in the championship series.” Well-deserved all the accolades he's getting and he's only 24 and not even touched his ceiling, not even close to that. Tatum’s ability to battle through adversity in the ECF reflected upon his full-season effort of helping the Celtics bounce back from a rough start. “He's a superstar, and he deserved that,” Butler said of Tatum’s first Finals berth. Friday night’s Game 6 loss could have been a breaking point for Boston, but Tatum did what he has done all throughout the postseason by leading them to a bounce-back win. Regardless of how long I've been in the league, I'm not too far removed from when I was in high school and when I was dreaming about moments like this.

The Celtics superstar shared his thoughts on the honor postgame.

So to be the first person to win this award (named) after Larry Bird still hasn’t sunk in yet.” I thank God every day just to be in this position, to be able to do that. Tatum shared his thoughts on the award postgame, calling it “an honor” to be the premier recipient of the award.

In Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday, Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum did something that most Celtics would never dare to do.

In Boston's first-round series against the Nets, Tatum wore a pair of custom shoes that included a quote from Kobe to the young Tatum - "How does it mean to you?" This isn't the first time Tatum has honored Kobe on the court. He wore a purple armband with the number 24 emblazoned in gold.